You don't have to be a scientist to know Al Gore is the scientific equivalent of an end-times-for-profit prophet. In fact, Christians in particular should quickly suspect the slick presentation and loose interpretations of facts.
Al Gore is the most convincing proof that even smart, scientifically-minded people are just people. They want to feel the world is ending, that they can explain it, and that they have a special part in saving it. Al Gore is just there to help them feel important.
It is good that the topic of stewardship of the Earth is now front and center in more churches, but it is a shame that it is happening in tandem with, and often in support of, the fear-based manipulation of governments and economic systems.
In any case, Gore pushed the agenda too far and it now seems there will be a new census on the presumed scientific consensus.
I believe the world is ending folks. I'm certain that it is man-made catastrophe. We've released way too much sin into the atmosphere. I've got millions of people and thousands of years of consensus on the matter. Where's my research grant?
Monday Morning Insights picked up the Ocala story I've been blogging about.
This is a widely read blog followed by many pastors. MMI missed the investigative article on Pastor Mark Cummins past. It also has an audience of pastors so the blog was oriented at helping pastors who might find themselves in a situation like the one Pastor Mark Cummins finds himself in.
MMI author Todd Rhoades presented the issue as an unfortunate but common disagreement between old staff and new pastor who have different "ways to grow the church." Mr. Rhoades, like all of us, can only guess where the truth might lie in this specific situation, but the investigative article shows that the issue in Ocala is not as simple as "old ways" versus "new ways".
I feel compelled to answer Todd's questions in his article in light of the Ocala situation. His questions are good, but they presuppose that the hypothetical situation is happening to a Pastor because of his strategy as opposed to happening because of the pastor's tactics. All of us love pastors and we presuppose that pastors have some level of integrity and accountability. I'm sure the pastors who read the MMI blog have integrity and accountability, but without those things the answers are severely impacted.
1. If you’re the senior pastor of a church with multiple staff, what would you do if you had a situation of staff mutiny?
If six men with known integrity and 86 years of service questioned the integrity of the senior pastor of 12 months in the manner appropriate to their bylaws after trying unsuccessfully to work with him then the only way to deal with it is through a meeting of the leadership of the church. By making this a "personnel committee" matter the men were silenced.
2. If you have one person who needs to be fired, that’s tough enough. But what if the problem extends to more than one staff members, or a group of staff members? Are you willing to take the risk to do what you need to do?
The risk is to submit to the church bylaws if the subject of the inquiry is you. We're dealing with congregational church polity here. Firing the staff is not a solution to the problem since the staff were trying to bring problems with their boss and their pastor to light and were not allowed to do so. They are not just staff, they are also members of the church.
3. If you’re a staff member and you have a problem with your senior pastor, how do you proceed? Forming a coalition and emailing bad stuff and blowing off meetings with the personnel team didn’t work in this case? How should you voice your concern?
That is how the events were presented by the pastor. The 6 pastors did send an email to the deacons that did get out. We don't know how the email "got out". The email did explain why they were requesting a meeting with deacons. They voiced their concern in a manner appropriate to their church and they have remained quiet ever since they were maneuvered out of having the opportunity to share with the deacons what they experienced.
4. What would you do if you were shouted down in a service, or if a good number of your people started chanting ‘we want the truth’.
Give them the truth, in love, then recuse yourself from officiating or controlling any meetings where other members in good standing in the church will discuss the issue and present their concerns.
5. How do you respond to the secular press, who always seem to have a heyday with this kind of thing?
In normal cases you say as little as possible and handle the matter internally. This should not be public and given the track record of this pastor it became public because he would not allow the discussion to happen internally according to the bylaws.
I appreciate that Todd Rhoades is a catalyst and a conversation starter. Because I am close to this situation I sensed in his article a perspective that may generally be true, but is off in this specific case.
The key question for those of us in South Florida related to this issue is:
What responsibility do those of us in ministry have to future churches that might suffer when a pastor with a track record for pain moves on to a new church?
This series of blogs is my answer to that question.
12 months ago I made an Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the Staff page at www.FBCOcala.org. I saved that page because I knew the staff would change drastically and painfully once they hired Pastor Mark Cummins. The brief descriptions of the pastoral team says a lot about their commitment to ministry and to their church. For 3 years I was unwilling to bring a private church matter into the public world of the Internet, but now that the story broke online I feel the damage is done and I want to focus as much of the discussion on the consistent pain experienced by people of character and Christ-like love when they get too close to this pastor.
I know many who are visiting my blog love the men who were recently fired from FBC Ocala. Each of these men has a family that is in mourning over the fact that they have been forced out of the church they love. I know how much it hurt me to see people isolated and cut off from their church family in Hollywood.
I ask that you join me in spending time each day praying for these men and their families. I ask that those who know them take every opportunity to testify to their character and integrity. Regardless of what happens at FBC Ocala, let them know they are loved and respected. It blessed my heart tremendously when my pastor invited my father to teach at our church and wrote an email to our entire church simply telling everyone what he knew about my father's character and integrity.
Again, I invite you to print out the page linked below of the former pastors at FBC Ocala. Pray for them.
